ETF vs single-name slip tax worksheet

[Fairman]

On **ETF vs single-name slip tax worksheet**, the desk standard stays practical. Same share count is not the same trade on SPY versus a mid-cap single name. Slip tax differs; ego rarely notices until the weekly sheet makes it rude and obvious.

Execution quality is fill-to-plan adverse cents on your names at your TOD buckets — not a brand slogan. Size follows live spread width and session phase.

## Rails that stay on the sheet
- Slip tax is expectancy.
- Universe choice is a trade decision.
- Invalidation written in cents or an auditable structure break before entry.

## Framework I will not skip
1. Write the definition before the open (level, trigger, invalidation in cents, size, max loss). Verbal plans do not count.
2. Liquidity and spread gates beat narrative. If live spread exceeds max, observe or cut — the chart can still "look perfect."

3. One clean attempt per idea in a window. Failed attempt means new structure, not revenge.
4. Log adverse cents by TOD bucket (open vs midday) and by ETF vs single-name before changing venue folklore.
5. Tag the trade or the skip the same day — Sunday-you cannot fix what Monday-you did not name.

## Worked example — Single-name slip ignored
Same pattern on thin name vs ETF; slip tax 15c vs 2c. Worksheet: expected slip by universe; choose ETF when tax destroys scalp R.

I keep examples in cents and clock time so Sunday review can tag the behavior — not rewrite it as a mood.

## Failure modes
- Ignoring the rails above on **ETF vs single-name slip tax worksheet** and substituting confidence.
- Adding size after adverse selection because the story still feels right.
- Paying open microstructure tax that midday memory never modeled.

## When to skip
Skipping is a first-class decision — even when the chart still looks persuasive:
- Checklist incomplete at 09:20 ET — observe or one pre-written A+ only.
- Live spread outside max for that symbol and session bucket.
- Index violently disagrees with a single-name thesis and no reduced-size RS plan is on the sheet.
- Platform, hotkeys, locate, or flatten path unverified after reconnect/update.
- Daily loss, PDT slot, or prop buffer tripwire already touched.
- News/FOMC/CPI window where the size-cut card says stand down.

## Closing
For **ETF vs single-name slip tax worksheet**, keep operable boredom: written rails, measured cents, index context when relevant, and a skip that needs no apology. Process quality beats ticket volume.

[Fairman]

A follow-up to my ETF vs single-name slip worksheet. When I reread it I saw the gap: I measured the slip on entries carefully and treated exits as free. They aren't. On fast exits, especially stops, the exit side was where most of my slip actually sat. So the sheet now has two columns per trade.

## What the sheet tracks now
- Entry slip in cents: fill price minus the price I intended, signed so that worse is positive.
- Exit slip in cents: intended exit price (stop or target level) minus the actual fill, also signed so that worse is positive.
- Exit type: target (limit), stop (stop-market or stop-limit), or manual.
- Total slip per share, and total slip in dollars = shares × total cents.

## Rails from the sheet
- Every week I compare exit slip by exit type. If stop-exit slip on a symbol keeps exceeding the cents I budgeted, I cut size on that symbol, or I stop trading it at the open when it moves fastest.
- The budget per symbol is written down ahead of time and only changes on Sunday.

## Worked example (illustrative)
10:03 ET, a $61 single name. I intend to buy at 61.20 and fill at 61.21: entry slip +1 cent. The stop is at 61.05. At 10:09 ET it trades through and the stop-market fills at 61.01: exit slip +4 cents. Total slip is 5 cents on 300 shares, or $15, on top of the 15-cent planned loss.

Same morning, 10:40 ET, SPY-like ETF. Intended 450.10, filled 450.10: 0 cents. The target limit at 450.35 fills at 450.35: 0 cents. Total slip is zero.

Look at only the entry column and the single name seems cheap. Once the exit column is in, it clearly isn't.

## Failure modes
- Logging the stop price as the exit price because that's what I "meant."
- Averaging slip across all exit types, which hides the stop-side cost inside the target fills.
- Blaming the broker before I check whether I placed a stop in the thinnest part of the book.

## When to skip
- If a name's recent stop-exit slip exceeds my budget, I don't trade it in the first fifteen minutes.
- If I can't get fill-level data for a trade, I mark it UNKNOWN instead of guessing. A sheet with guesses in it is worse than one with blanks.

Diagram: a two-column worksheet sketch (entry slip | exit slip) with arrows showing that the stop-exit column is where the extra cents collect.